TOOLS Using a PhotoEZ (StencilPro) silk screen
Painting & Stenciling
6.

Use your pasta machine to rollout a nice sheet of polymer clay. Think about which paint colors you'd like to use and get those tubes, bottles and/or jars out and ready.

Also have a pan of clean water ready. The quicker you can submerse your stencil after using it, the easier it will be to remove the paint.

 

7.

This step is optional but can add a great deal of richness to the finished work. There are several treatments you can apply to color the background. You can randomly blob acrylic paint on the clay, tap and blot with your fingers, then perform a final blotting with the textured paper towels to remove excess paint.

Another treatment is to silk screen an appropriate background pattern made from one of your PhotoEZ stencils. If you decide to use a PhotoEZ stencil, place the stencil (shiny side down, mesh side up) on the clay.

Apply paint along the one of the borders. Using the squeegee or rubber spatula tool, draw the tool across the stencil, pulling the paint along.

 


 

Note: When ever you apply paint on your PhotoEZ stencil, as soon as you're done, immediately dunk the stencil and the squeegee in cool clean water and gently rub to remove all the paint. Remove the stencil from the water, then gently blot it dry and completely air dry before using it again.

Don't allow the paint to dry on the stencil or you could ruin it. But you can try using latex paint remover to remove the dried paint. Bill Simmons (Circuit Bridge prez) says it won't affect the stencil itself.

And don't try to use a damp or moist stencil since it is fragile in that state.

 

8.

Use a blow dryer, lightly and quickly sweeping the surface to partially cure the paint to the clay. This step will be important because if you attempt to apply a foreground pattern, you might pull away parts of the background treatment when you pull away the PhotoEZ stencil, if the background hasn't adequately bonded.


Stenciling
9.

Place the stencil (shiny side down, mesh side up) on the clay. Apply paint along the one of the borders. Using the squeegee or rubber spatula tool, draw the tool across the stencil, pulling the paint along.

If you're stenciling a foreground layer of paint over a background layer of paint, you should be careful when pulling the stencil off because some of the background paint might stick to the stencil instead of the clay.

As written earlier, immediately dunk the stencil and squeegee into cool water to prevent the paint from drying on the stencil and to help remove the paint from the stencil. Thoroughly clean the stencil and allow to completely air dry.

Bill informs me if paint gets stuck on your stencil, you can use latex paint remover to clean off the paint. It won't harm the stencil.



10.

Use a blow dryer to lightly and quickly sweep the surface to dry the paint. But be careful to not cure the clay.

The paint won't bond to the clay until after baking, so treat the painted raw clay carefully. The paint layer will easily separate from the clay.

 

Finishing
11.

At this point, you can trim, shape and/or texture the clay. You can also place the clay piece on something like a light bulb or a bottle to shape.

Bake at least 275 degrees F for 40 minutes.

Photo of what I decided to do with the silk screened butterfly coming soon. Click here to see some other silk screened projects I've done.

12.

You may wish to seal the painted surface with translucent liquid sculpey (TLS), Varathane, Future floor finish or any other liquid acrylic sealer. Which sealer you choose depends in the finish you prefer. TLS will give a slightly rough and dull finish. Gloss Flecto and Future will give a glossy finish. And you also find a semi-gloss version of Varathane.

If you choose TLS, dilute it a bit with diluent and apply a thin coat. Rebake at 275-300 degrees F for 10 - 15 minutes.

If you choose Varathane, I'd recommend the water based diamond finish one. If you choose Future, it only comes one way - glossy.

You don't have to, but you can bake the Varathane or Future sealed items. Baking will improve the bonding between the sealer, paint and clay. You can bake the sealed items at 250 degrees F for 10 - 15 minutes.


Admit it - wasn't that the best fun you've ever had? Between what can be done with polymer clay combined with the practically unlimited potential using this silk screening technique... well, I get speechless and tingly just thinking about it.  ;-). Click here to see my latest silk screened jewelry I made using PhotoEZ.

Bill's site (the guy that makes PhotoEz and StencilPro) is http://www.craftyprinters.com/

If you need to go back to or missed the first part of this lesson, click on the link below:


PhotoEZ Silk Screen Film Developing

There's nothing better than having a great tool when you need it.

Enjoy,
Desiree

Last update to this page: 11 Jan 2016. Send comments, questions or suggestions to Desiree McCrorey.